


Haunted Houses and Ghosts

by Soulsborne123



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: F/M, Parody
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 11:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11805186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulsborne123/pseuds/Soulsborne123
Summary: Where the gang ends up solving a case for fun seriously, Yasuhara sets his trap, Naru ends up in a role-play, and John gets to be the boss. [Set post-canon, three years after Akumu no Sumu Ie]





	Haunted Houses and Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> Established MaiRu relationship (the story is a continuation of my 'A Christmas Story' universe, which is post-canon set 3 weeks after Akumu). By this point Naru had decided to pursue his studies back in Cambridge, though he often comes back to Japan when school's out. In the meantime, Madoka's been assigned as head of the JSPR branch.

**September 08. 9:30 pm**

"The sun had set three hours ago. The equipment are finally all set up and the entire group is at base, planning the next course of action, when suddenly the entire school building experiences a black out. Thanks to the back-up generators, all the equipment are unaffected so that the small monitors end up as being the only source of light, casting off a soft bluish hue. There's something strange in the air, and all of you, to different degrees, feel that something is not right. A strange sound comes from the hallway. It's faint, but it sounds a lot like a child's laughter. All of you know that the entire school is deserted—no one else should be on campus tonight but yourselves."

 

Yasuhara looked up and scanned everyone's faces before finally landing his gaze on the blonde priest to his left. "Okay as the leader of this group, what would you like to do, Naru?"

 

"Uh-uhm... I think... I would like all of us to head outside in the hallway to check for the source of the sound. Is that okay?"

 

"You are the boss. If the rest of the group agrees, then you may do as you please."

 

John nodded. "Okay, then I look at the others and wordlessly go out the door, knowing that they will follow."

 

"You're good at this," Bou-san murmured in awe, making John turn a slight pink as he chuckled sheepishly to hide his embarrassment.

 

Yasuhara continued. "Naru is the first one out of the door, followed soon by everyone on his heels. It's pitch dark, but everyone attempts to scan the immediate vicinity anyway, though as expected, find nothing in sight. Just as soon as everyone thought everything's clear, the laughter rings out again. A little more distant this time."

 

"It's moving. We should follow the source, right? It sounds like it's trying to lead us somewhere," Mai interjected and looked around to gauge everyone's reaction.

 

"I think Jou-chan is right."

 

"Then, should we follow it?" When most of his team grunted in agreement, John nodded and solidified his decision. "Okay, then I tell the others, 'We'll follow and investigate the sound, but since we have no idea whether it's paranormal or not, it's better for everyone to stay together for safety.'"

 

"Wait, is my weird animal instinct thing going off?" Ayako asked.

 

Mai huffed angrily. "Ayako! It's not ‘animal instinct’! It's my _intuition_!"

 

Ayako shrugged carelessly and turned her attention to Yasuhara. "My _intuition_ should be telling me something by now, right?"

 

"Indeed. Your skill is enough to detect that something isn't right, but you don't know why. You feel uneasy."

 

"That's useless. I need to know more information. I want to know if we should follow this sound, or what?"

 

Yasuhara picked up a card from his stack of notes and scanned a few lines before replying, "Alright, let's have you roll for it." He handed Ayako the dice and waited for its results. "A seven... hm. You feel that little voice inside you saying something, but for some reason it's speaking in Swahili so you can't understand a thing."

 

Mai scrunched up her face and blurted in astonishment, "What the heck? That's not how that works."

 

Yasuhara ignored her. "Anyway as usual, Mai will need Gene to spell everything out for her." Mai lightly kicked him under the table, making him yelp out in surprise but he persisted on, "Well, _sorry_ but sadly Mai's insight skills are not enough to determine the truth at the moment."

 

"What score did you give my insight skill? Why did you get to create the character sheets on your own anyway, and why are you the only one allowed to see it?"

 

"Sorry Mai. I am trying to be as realistic as possible so I rated all your skills as objectively as I could, but I'd really rather not show you all the breakdown in fear of a backlash. Just roll with what I say, I think it's pretty fair. Besides," the young man continued flippantly, "in this case, even if your instinct did tell you to not follow, wouldn't you just write it off and think you're just being paranoid, anyway? You are a very curious kitten, after all."

 

Ayako laughed. "That is exactly true. Alright, then as Mai, I decide to keep my bad feeling to myself even though it most likely would have been a good idea for the entire group to know."

 

"Okay, Mai keeps her mouth shut and everyone decides to follow the sound. It seems to be getting louder so you know you're approaching whatever it could be, but then suddenly, all noises stop. The air stills and feels clammy, and the darkness seem to be creeping in closer, sending goosebumps on everyone's skin. Panic sets in. There is still nothing in sight."

 

"Does Hara-san detect anything? Oh," John caught himself and eyed the boy sitting across the table before continuing, "I turn to Hara-san and ask, 'Do you sense anything, Hara-san?'"

 

The boy he addressed only looked at him, but did not say a word.

 

"Come on, Naru-bou, say something!"

 

Beside him, Mai offered him an infuriatingly reassuring look and Naru felt a tick of annoyance twitching in the back of his head. How could he have been so idiotic to have allowed himself to be roped into playing some god-damned role playing game with these morons again?

 

_-00-Earlier-00-_

**September 08. 9:00 am**

Although he originally should have had about three more weeks in Japan until he had to leave again for England, Naru found himself frequently mentally checking off a list of things he needed to pack. It had been quite hectic the past two days, to say the least.

 

Martin had phoned him three days ago, letting him know that BSPR recently accepted an extremely rare case of a twelve-year-old girl exhibiting legitimate PK-ST tendencies, and mentioned that his expertise would be greatly appreciated. Naru momentarily struggled to make a decision whether to accept or not, but it was entirely short lived. It only took him the span of taking a breath before he answered, "Give _me three days to sort out my things. I'll take the earliest flight out."_

It was the day before his flight and he decided to go to the office to look through his notes one final time to make sure he didn't overlook anything, when the door suddenly opened and Yasuhara's energetic voice greeted him a cheery morning. He barely managed to grunt a response.

 

Yasuhara set his bag down at his desk and noticed the absence of the keyboard clacking from Lin's office and asked, "Is Lin-san not in today?"

 

"He'll come in later."

 

"Oh how fortuitous. I was going to ask you something about him in secret." When Naru did not give any form of response, the boy continued, "Has he always been the girly type?"

 

Naru raised his eyes to look at him.

 

"I mean does he enjoy dolls, or anything of that sort? Or wait, you know what, I'm stupid. Maybe he has a daughter. Or a niece?"

 

"What are you talking about?"

 

Finally getting what he had been fishing for, Yasuhara beamed and left his desk, inviting himself over and relaxing into the sofa across from his boss. "Yesterday I thought I saw him shopping around for a stuffed toy, contemplating between a neon pink or electric blue teddy bear." Seeing his boss' attention immediately shut off, he added, "But I think he decided to go with the typical brown type. The clothes looked kind of ugly though, to be honest. But you know, I really couldn't tell if it was him. I don't often look at his figure from the back, I'm more of a Takigawa Hoshou appraiser--" For a second, Yasuhara feared Naru would walk away, but his boss merely readjusted his position. Even so, he hastily changed the subject.

 

"Anyway are you all set for your flight tomorrow? You're suddenly leaving on such a short notice. It’s a shame Mori-san isn't able to come immediately to take your place. And we had just scheduled a case for next week, too. So with both the heads gone, Lin-san has to stay behind a bit this time and take care of business first until Mori-san can come take over, right?" An idea suddenly clicked in his head and his eyes widened in excitement. "Ah! Do you think Lin-san wanted to make sure you had a companion for your flight out? Now it makes sense! He probably figured you could put the teddy bear on the seat beside you on the plane so you wouldn't have to sit next to some random person. Plus it would be like he was with you in spirit."

 

Naru finally closed his book in exasperation, stood up, and started making his way toward his office, yet despite this, Yasuhara chuckled in amusement and crooned, "That Lin-san, always the thoughtful, practical joker. That is _so_ him."

 

"Yasuhara-san. Tea."

 

"Oh, roger!"

 

Naru silently closed the door behind him with a sigh and rubbed his temples. It was too early for this...

 

He slumped down into his seat and rummaged through his drawers, pausing when a sharp piece of cardstock poked him. He pulled it out and spread it apart: two tickets to Tokyo Disneyland. On the left-hand-side of the ticket, the date **19xx.09.19** was in bold letters. And she had been looking so forward to it, too...

 

He sighed and put the tickets face down on his desk.

 

A few minutes later Yasuhara knocked softly and asked permission to enter his office. He looked up and watched as the boy approached, nodding his silent thanks as the Yasuhara bent over to set the cups down on his desk.

 

"Need any help packing?"

 

"No, thank you," he answered curtly.

 

"They must really need you there, huh? Professor Davis wouldn't have called you up to disturb your already short vacation otherwise, right?"

 

Naru took his cup and sipped its contents, softly drumming his fingers on the table. "Yes, and he correctly guessed I would have wanted to take part in this excellent research opportunity."

 

Yasuhara laughed weakly. "Yes, of course." When he noticed his boss pause for a moment, absentmindedly curling and uncurling his fist without realizing what he was doing, he decided to take a seat. "What's the matter?"

 

Naru blinked and looked at him. He set the cup back down and picked up the tickets on his table. "You may have these tickets. I have no need for them anymore."

 

"Whoa, two tickets to Tokyo Disneyland? Oh I see, it's for two weeks from now. So what was supposed to be the occasion?"

 

"Nothing important."

 

"You're just giving it to me? I can pay you, at least. I'll take it for a discount."

 

Naru shrugged.

 

"Who do you want me to give the second ticket to?"

 

"Whoever you go with is none of my concern."

 

Yasuhara smiled. "If you want me to take Mai, just say so. She'll be feeling down for a while because of you suddenly leaving, but Disneyland should cheer her up a bit. She's been wanting to go for years. Although are you sure about that? I can be quite hands-y, you know."

 

"I don't care who you go with," he reiterated irritably.

 

"Well alright if you say so," Yasuhara chirped. "This ticket is an excellent bribe to get myself a date. I'll just pocket these and buy Mai some ice cream then, or something. She's pretty easy to placate anyway."

 

Naru stared at him hard, but was unable to say a word. Sensing his victory, Yasuhara relented. "Alright, alright, since you ask me so nicely. I'll consider taking Mai with me, but on one condition."

 

"Yasuhara-san—"

 

"—We play a bet."

 

" _Yasuhara-san_."

 

"Come _on_ , Naru-bou, it's been awhile since you've played a bet against me. I still remember the last time **[1]** like it was yesterday. Wasn't it _exhilarating_? Not knowing whether you were going to win or lose?"

 

"No."

 

"Alright, then I think I'll ask Priscilla-chan if she’d like to go. Priscilla-chan is this girl at the place I intern at. You know the type: hard to please, just like yourself, but this ticket might do."

 

Naru breathed out in annoyance and muttered, "Fine, let's hear it."

 

Yasuhara nodded. "So Lin-san and that bear. What do you think? I believe I saw Lin-san buy that teddy bear for you so you can have a travel companion and I bet you'll be receiving it sometime before you leave for tomorrow."

 

"Are you aware how ridiculous that sounds?"

 

"No, I think Lin-san is hilarious. He'll be _just_ the person to play that prank. So what do you say?"

 

Naru knew to be cautious. He's had the misfortune to fall into Yasuhara's trap in the past, forcing him to take a bet that ended up with him playing some sort of ridiculous game. No doubt he had similar plans now. The boy wasn't one to make bets without knowing something to his advantage.

 

He sat back and contemplated the scenario. The fact that Yasuhara saw Lin purchasing a teddy bear must be true; the act itself wasn't in the realm of impossibilities. The only question to consider is in regards to his intentions. Lin would obviously never consider ever buying him a parting gift, let alone a ridiculous teddy bear, especially since they were going to end up seeing each other again in a few weeks. Therefore the only explanation is that Lin was purchasing it as a gift for someone else. Slightly more likely: it could really be meant for him, but Lin wasn't buying it on his own volition. Somebody must have coaxed a favor out of him so he was purchasing it in lieu of someone else. Either way, Yasuhara's claims would be wrong. He frowned. Was that it? Could Yasuhara be thinking that he could win just because Lin was the one who technically purchased it? If so, he was barking up the wrong tree. Naru inwardly smirked.

 

Or… did their top investigator have something up his sleeve? He became uncertain again. Either way, he couldn’t say he wasn’t curious…

 

"Fine," he said eventually.

 

"If I'm wrong, then I'll take Mai on a fun date for you, but honestly I think she's looking forward to going _with_ you. Anyway if I'm right, then I take Mai anyway because I'm not heartless."

 

"Then what is the point of me accepting your bet, Yasuhara-san?"

 

"If you hadn't accepted it, I wouldn't have agreed to take her at all. It isn't right for me to take someone else's girlfriend on a romantic date, you know. But since we're cool, I'll take your feelings into consideration and make it a friendly date."

 

"Fine."

 

"Wait, I wasn't done yet. My other condition is: if I'm right, then you—"

 

"' _—Owe me'_ , yes I'm aware that's what you're after."

 

"Oh good, we understand each other then."

 

Naru finished up the last of his tea. Last time he had lost their bet only because Mai was a weakness he somehow found hard to resist. This time, perhaps he could trust Lin. He reiterated, "Good."

 

**September 08. 1:00pm**

Naru entered his office and froze. On top of his desk was a brown teddy bear wearing an ugly tie-dye shirt and faded jean overalls. Behind him he heard Lin exit from the restroom.

 

"Lin," he called out, making the taller man pause in his tracks, and unfortunately, catching the attention of a certain cheeky part-timer as well. "What is this." Both Lin and Yasuhara made their way toward him.

 

"That is a present, for you."

 

"Oh?" Yasuhara grinned and threw a conspiratorial wink towards their boss. "Well, well, how _unexpected._ Who bought it?"

 

"I bought it.”

 

“Ohhhh?” Yasuhara’s voice raised an octave, while Naru resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

 

Lin stared at the two in slight confusion, but continued anyway, “Yes, although I paid with Taniyama-san's money. It is her parting gift to you, Noll. She was unable to purchase it herself as the news of your departure was too sudden and she's been busy with university, so she asked me for a favor. Is there a problem?"

 

Naru sighed. "Why a teddy bear?"

 

"As your travel companion. She had joked you can put it on the seat beside you so that you would not have to sit with strangers."

 

Yasuhara roared in laughter. "Ah, that's _right_! My mistake. Mai is the thoughtful practical joker, not Lin-san. Silly me."

 

Naru crossed his arms. "Laugh all you want, Yasuhara-san, but technically I won our bet."

 

The boy stopped mid breath. "How so?"

 

"Lin may have physically bought it, but he didn't do so with his own money. Gifts, as I'm told, are all about feeling and intention. And since the present wasn't from him personally, I argue the bet is null."

 

"Hm, I'll be glad to report to Mori-san that you're taking her lessons to heart. At any rate, you are right. Mai technically bought it for you. But still, I'm afraid you didn't win, boss."

 

Naru frowned.

 

"Recall what I said exactly. I admit I may have been technically wrong when I told you Lin-san bought that teddy bear for you, but I said that I _bet you'll be receiving it sometime before you leave for tomorrow_. And that teddy bear is on your desk exactly sometime before you leave for tomorrow. Wording, Naru-bou."

 

Naru bit the inside of his cheek and cursed before slamming his office door on their faces.

 

_-00- Back to current time -00-_

**September 08. 10:00 pm**

With a heavy sigh, Naru finally relented and asked in reply, "Is Hara-san's intuition high enough to detect if it's a spirit and understand what it wants?"

 

Once again Yasuhara checked his cards. "By this point in the story, it could be. Roll a d20 and we'll see."

 

Naru leaned over the table to grab the twenty-sided die Yasuhara held out for him. He shook it lightly in his hand and let it roll on the table. "Is it enough?"

 

"Hm, not quite, even with the addition of your skill modifier... You detect something but can't see it fully. It's kind of hazy to you, but at least you know for sure you're dealing with some kind of spirit. It certainly looks like a child, but you feel something is off, like it's tricking you. You feel animosity coming from it."

 

"Is there just one spirit?"

 

"One presence you could feel strongly, but there are many others. You just don't know how many, exactly."

 

Ayako clicked her tongue. "What's up with our useless psychics?"

 

"Pretty realistic to me," Bou-san offered.

 

"Hey! And Ayako, I don't think you have any right to be complaining about anyone else being useless when you yourself have countless times-"

 

"Shut it, Mai."

 

Yasuhara simply laughed and returned his attention back to his boss. "Okay, now that we've done the game mechanics aspect, you have to let the whole team know what just happened. You need to act it out. How would Hara-san explain to the others?"

 

Naru stared frostily at the young man, but Yasuhara seemed entirely unaffected and returned the stare evenly with his carefree, asinine grin. A few seconds ticked by. Yasuhara merely folded his hands and re-adjusted his glasses patiently until Naru sighed in annoyance. "I teeter as I walk up to Naru and foolishly, and quite dramatically, attempt to fall into his arms."

 

This elicited several muted snickers in the room, while Masako looked slightly offended.

 

"Ah, I catch her carefully and hold on to her, asking if she's alright," John, the ever kind and helpful priest, quickly interjected in fear of the make-believe Hara falling flat on her face.

 

The real Naru paled as the snickers turned into full blown guffaws, with Bou-san crying out between breaths, "Wow. How unbelievably _chivalrous_ of Naru-chan!"

 

Immediately John realized his mistake and sent Naru an apologetic smile, but the boy made no show of acknowledging the gesture.

 

However, Naru figured if he was going to be playing along with this ridiculous farce anyway, then he might as well do it as realistically as possible. He recited blandly, "I mumble quietly to the sleeve of my kimono, 'There are countless spirits manifesting here. Their pain and anguish is making everything appear distorted, but there is one presence among them that stands out. I cannot tell who it is. It appears as a child, but it is unmistakably dangerous and cannot be trusted.'"

 

Yasuhara clapped. "Nice, nice! That sounds precisely like Hara-san, indeed! Alright, soon after Hara-san informed the group, loud banging sounds thunder along the entire hallway, progressively getting louder and louder, and even more aggressive. It seems as if all the doors in the entire school are repeatedly being opened and then closed shut and—"

 

"— _Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan_!"

 

"Wait,” Yasuhara hastily reached out, cupped Mai’s hands on his own and set it back down beside her, “okay Mai, you don't actually have to do the hand gestures, you know? Let’s be careful here. And I'm assuming you want to use your Mantra skill? You are aware that spell can only be used twice per day, right?"

 

Mai frowned in serious contemplation. "That's what Bou-san would do, so yes, let's do it. I can regain the spell back once the morning comes, right?"

 

Yasuhara nodded. "Alright, always with his quick-thinking, Bou-san recites his Mantra and with such conviction that all sounds suddenly stop once again—" in the background, Mai squealed in awe at how powerful she was, "—The air clears first, then the lights go back on. The heavy feeling has disappeared as the spirits seem to have gone away for now. It seems nothing further will be happening for the night. What's your plan?"

 

"First I thank Takigawa-san, then I tell the others, 'Let's all head back to base and consider our next move.'"

 

"Is everyone okay with that? Okay, so the entire party makes their way back to base. Everything appears as it was before you left. What do you want to do next?"

 

Masako sighed, aware that she hasn't said much for the entire night and tentatively offered, "I... wordlessly go back to the monitors and review the recent footage for any clues."

 

"As expected of our Lin-san," Bou-san chuckled to himself. After thinking for a few seconds, he suggested, "I think we should go over the case file again and see if we can gather some clue from it, right? Where's _Shounen_ in this? Maybe he's got new information for us."

 

"Yasuhara had to skip the case because he'd just been recently promoted and was working admirably at his new law firm agency for the whole day."

 

"You're still an intern, _Shounen_. Interns don't get promoted."

 

"Well in this timeline Osamu is no longer just an intern. He had long graduated university and is now a working young adult. And right after his work, he went to meet up with his gorgeous girlfriend for a romantic dinner. Maybe he'll finally work up the courage to propose. You can attempt to call him now and see if he'd pick up his phone."

 

Mai muttered under her breath, "Someone has grand dreams."

 

"Alright, it's a good idea to try and contact him, then. I stand up, open up my black notebook, and begin summarizing my case notes for the entire group," John announced as he also picked up a piece of paper in front of him full with his own neat handwriting. Earlier, Yasuhara had provided everyone with a blank sheet of paper and a pen so that they can jot down anything they think might be helpful in solving the make-believe case. Everyone, except Naru and Lin, appeared to have taken meticulous notes (although the latter had a blank piece of paper only because he had his laptop with him).

 

John continued, "'The client is Yashima Akifuki-san, principal of Rokuroku High. He claims the entire school grounds is cursed and even brought in the latest victim with him, a young student named Tachibaki Ana-san. She disappeared for two days and was later found unresponsive by the school entrance. Some witnesses claim they saw her walking away with a strange man, but she doesn't remember much of what happened. When she came to, she was found to have no sign of any mental or physical injury, except for the appearance of an intense rash encircling...'" Here John sighed. "An intense rash encircling her entire head? Yasuhara-san, I'm still not clear on its meaning. Do you mean to say her face is entirely covered in rash?"

 

"No, just the top of her head."

 

"Oh, does Tachibaki-san not have hair?"

 

"Of course she does! Think of it like a hippie-headband. Do you know what I'm saying? It's a band around her forehead, but it encircles the entire top head. Is it clearer now?"

 

John was still unconvinced but let the matter rest. "So a rash encircling her head, and Yashima-san claims it looks like some kind of bloody wound, but gives Tachibaki-san no pain or itching. Aside from what happened with Tachibaki-san, previous activities reported were mild compared to what we experienced today. Yashima-san said that other students have reported seeing shadowy figures in the old school building, hearing disembodied voices during class, had small fires start in the locker rooms, had all furniture in the teachers' lounge get suddenly rearranged at an angle, and had volleyballs get scattered in the gym after hours after being put away. Does anyone have anything else to add?"

 

Bou-san rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Something isn't sitting right with me."

 

To everyone's surprise, Naru suddenly let out a long, aggravated sigh. They waited for him to elaborate, but after a few seconds he simply sunk back into his seat and crossed his arms without any further explanation.

 

"Okay... Can my intuition thing go off again? I want to use it."

 

Yasuhara blinked. "Oh, uhh of course you may make use of your abilities. What exactly are you suspecting, Matsuzaki-san?"

 

"Everything."

 

"You're going to have to be more specific than that."

 

"Him, Yashima-san, and her, Tachibaki-san. And the school. I don't know, anything. There has to be something suspicious, Hoshou is right. Something feels off and Naru is acting weird."

 

"Okay... roll, please."

 

Ayako did as she was told. "18. Plus I have that modifier so that's 20."

 

The dungeon master pursed his lips in thought. "Okay, Mai feels her stomach squirm. Something wasn't right, she thought. She squinted her eyes and carefully studied her beautiful, raven-haired boyfriend speaking before her for a couple of minutes until suddenly, the answer hit her. Naru's fly was undone."

 

The group fell over in shock and collectively groaned but it was Ayako who shouted, "I scored a 20! Surely there's something much more important than _that_ piece of information?!"

 

John, completely immersed in his character, blushed deeply despite himself and cried, "Goodness, forgive me! I immediately notice so I turn around and discretely zip it up."

 

"Okay, let me just speak out of character here for a second and explain: there wasn't supposed to be anything suspicious by what had been said so far."

 

"No, but there's something _definitely_ off--"

 

Yasuhara cut her off. "--Do you mean in-game, or in reality? I think you're getting confused here, Matsuzaki-san. Your intuition ability only works in-game, not in real life, so even if you yourself feel something is off, rolling a dice won't help you figure it out, you know."

 

" _You little_ \--"

 

"--Alright, let's just call Yasuhara- _shounen_. It seems he might have more information for us," Bou-san interjected neutrally.

 

"I take out my phone and use my speed dial. Ring, ring, ring! Hello, _Shounen_?"

 

Yasuhara smiled at Mai and played along. "Hello, Hoshou-kun. Have you missed me?"

 

"Of course! I've been so lonely without you, Osamu-kun. Don't tell Ayako."

 

Bou-san paled and reached over to pinch Mai's cheeks. " _Jou_ - _chan_ ," he growled, "can you not make me out to be a creep?"

 

"Sorry, sorry. Alright, I put the phone on speaker so everyone can hear and I say, 'Yasuhara- _shounen_ , were you able to gather more information about the Yashima case? We're hitting a dead end here.'"

 

"'Yes. I dug more records on the school property and found some interesting history behind it. Rokuroku High used to be an elementary school, but there was a serious accident that occurred fifty years ago involving an entire class of students that forced them to close it down for a year. During a field trip, the bus carrying an entire class full of fourth graders, as well as their beloved homeroom teacher, swerved off the road and fell down a cliff, then blew up before the wreckage even hit the water. None of the bodies were ever recovered.'"

 

Everyone covered their mouth in horror and began exclaiming:

 

"That's horrible!"

 

"Those poor children..."

 

"Oh dear, it must have been awful for those parents..."

 

Naru, seemingly the only sane one in the group, pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered silently, "It's only a game."

 

"Then this is clearly the work of earth-bound spirits."

 

At hearing this sentence so suddenly, everyone stopped to turn their heads and gaped.

 

Lin stared back at them unflinchingly. "What is it? It makes sense. Hara-san said earlier that there were more than one spirit, and judging by what we heard, it sounded like children. The powerful presence could be the teacher. Perhaps all of them are unable to accept their sudden, violent death."

 

"Wow, even Lin is getting in character. You should slam the table too, for more realism."

 

A tiny smile formed on Lin's lips and he gave Takigawa a slight bow, while Ayako proceeded smack her boyfriend on the back of his head.

 

"You should try harder too, Bou-san. Your character hasn't said a word yet," Yasuhara admonished.

 

"Well John isn't usually very talkative anyway. I'm just waiting to see when Naru will need me to perform some exorcism. John, you don't need to be so modest about wanting to use yourself, you know."

 

"Thank you, Takigawa-san, but it isn't like that. I just haven't found the need for my skills yet. At any rate, I say out loud, 'Yasuhara-san, did all the problems start occurring after this event?'"

 

"'Not immediately. After the school closed down, they decided to wipe their slate and turn it into a high school. Construction happened in the span of two years. There were no incidents reported during that time, and even another year into the new school's opening. It wasn't until a janitor found a thin, dirty old log washed up on the bank of the lake--"

 

Bou-san cut-in. "Wait, the school has a lake?"

 

"Yes, in the back. An underground sewer is also nearby, if you're curious. Anyway a thin, dirty old log washed up on its bank. The janitor, aware of the history of the place, believed it to be an image of the _binbougami_ and therefore deified it in hopes that it will turn into _fukunokami_ and grant him, and the school, good luck. However instead, a string of bad luck started occurring in the school grounds.'"

 

Mai raised her hand. "Okay so obviously that makeshift idol is the source of all this. Can I attempt to exorcise it? I want to use my weapon and powers."

 

"My vajra and the nine cuts isn't something to fool around with, Mai..."

 

"'Furthermore, ten years ago there was a student who caused mass panic, claiming to have telekinesis. Sekiguchi Momoaki, a third year student, was called on to do a demonstration and actually levitated a piece of chocolate in front of the school assembly.'"

 

Ayako scoffed. "Couldn't he have chosen a more impressive item than a sorry piece of chocolate? Why not make it at least an entire chocolate bar, for crying out loud."

 

Curious, Masako asked, "What type of person was this Sekiguchi-san?"

 

"Lin-san wouldn't ask that."

 

"I'm not asking as Lin-san," the medium retorted angrily. "I'm asking for myself. Or if it matters to you so much, then Naru will ask as Masako on my behalf."

 

"Only if Naru-bou is alright with you putting words into his character's mouth."

 

Naru shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter to me."

 

"Okay. 'Sekiguchi-san was a strange kid. As an introvert and a social outcast, he didn't have many friends except for his physics teacher and the teddy bear he constantly carried around with him.'"

 

Ayako laughed and scoffed again, "No wonder the kid doesn't have many friends. Who levitates a piece of chocolate to show off and has a doll as a friend, let alone decides to carry it around school with him?"

 

This time, Masako sighed and pushed her notes away in disdain before folding her hands on the table. Takigawa was beginning to fidget as well.

 

"This teddy bear. It has a name?" he asked.

 

"Why yes. Are you asking?"

 

"Fine, as John I ask out loud, 'What is the name of Sekiguchi-san's teddy bear?'"

 

"'The bear? His name is Winnie.'"

 

At hearing this, John smiled, while Bou-san finally stood up and began laughing uncontrollably, much to the confusion of Ayako and Mai.

 

"What? What's so funny?" Mai asked. She and Ayako shared an uncertain glance.

 

"Jou-chan, don't all the events remind you of something we've all experienced in the past? They're just all jumbled up into one giant mess of a case," Takigawa answered between fits of laughter. He first turned to the young man and gave him a thumbs up, then turned to Lin and Naru. "Lin, when did you figure it out?"

 

"Not too long after Naru sighed. I did not suspect anything prior to that."

 

Mai frowned. "Huh. Then when you made that comment about earth-bound spirits, you already knew? How come you didn't tell us anything, Lin-san?"

 

"I did not think Matsuzaki-san would have realized the truth, so as her, I feigned ignorance."

 

A small tick formed on Ayako's forehead as she angrily growled, "I feel like that was a very thinly veiled insult, Lin."

 

"I've been having that strange feeling I couldn't place, but I didn't realize what it was until Masako-chan made that face. I got too invested in the game to realize it completely. The names are very clever."

 

"Why thank you--"

 

"--Now if you're all done, go home." Naru cut in, standing up from his seat and glaring at everyone equally.

 

"My goodness, it's already thirty minutes past midnight! That game went on far longer than I intended. Sorry Naru-bou, will you be okay for your flight tomorrow? Your flight is in four and a half hours!"

 

Mai shot up as well and covered her mouth. "Oh no, no, no. There's no way I'll get up on time to see you off if I go to sleep now!"

 

"Well we're already up and awake anyway and already all together. Since we were all planning on seeing him off later, how about we just continue playing until it's time for Naru-san to leave?" John suggested.

 

The rest of the group cried out in agreement, much to Naru's annoyance. Although mildly irritated, Naru had to admit he wasn't in the least bit sleepy. Forcing himself to sleep now would only make things worse later. And so despite his urge to seek some peace and quiet, he found himself settling back into his seat between Lin and Mai, silently committing everyone's faces and voices to memory until the next time he'd meet them all again in three months’ time.

 

\---FIN---

 

**Author's Note:**

> Footnotes:  
> [1] Referencing 'So They Have Kissed', a prequel to this story.


End file.
